


Courtesy of Kim

by down_into_underland



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Bullying, F/M, Fluff, Heartrate, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Characters Mentioned - Freeform, Minor Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-16
Packaged: 2018-05-11 10:55:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5624467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/down_into_underland/pseuds/down_into_underland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alix looks back on all the ridiculous nicknames Kim has given to her throughout the years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Story can also be found on fanfiction.net and on my tumblr at down-into-underland.tumblr.com/tagged/courtesy of kim.

First it was Ariel.

I can remember it clearly. I was terrified out of my goddamn mind. I was eight years old and my dad had just gotten a great new job at the famous Louvre Museum and of course I was happy for him. I was not however happy about the move from our small town home to the city of Paris.

Sure, Paris is great. There were a lot of areas I could skate around, lots of cool things to see, and always something new to do. However, when you live in the fashion capital of the world and you consider yourself a tomboy, naturally you may feel out of place. And I did. Walking down the street with my older brother I saw dozens of other little girls my age, all wearing cute and frilly little dresses or skirts. I was wearing my torn up shorts I used for skating and a t-shirt I pulled from my not yet unpacked suitcase. Needless to say, I felt rather out of place.

Anyway back to my story, as I said; I was terrified. It was my first day at my new school. I heard from Dad that the there were some rich people who would be in my class. One of them being the daughter of the mayor of Paris. I don’t know why he thought THAT would make me feel any less nervous. As we pulled up to my new school I saw a bunch of kids running into the school together. Everyone seemed to have a group, no one was just by themselves. Yup, definitely was nervous. Dad gave me the whole “behave yourself and try to make friends” speech before I got out of the car and walked what seemed to be a hundred miles to my classroom.

Everyone was already in their seats; talking to their friends and laughing. No one noticed me as I walked in and sat down as far back as I could. I slunk down into my seat as much as I could. It felt as if all eyes were on me; even when no one was even looking at me to begin with.

I looked at the clock. Ten minutes until class started. After five minutes (though it felt more like an hour), a girl with an annoyingly whiny voice and blonde hair decided to point me out to the entire class.

“Hey! You’ve never been here before! Who are you?” After said annoying blonde girl spoke all eyes were on me (for real this time). I felt like I was going to throw up.

“Um, I’m Alix. I just moved here.” I tried to sound sure of myself, but I’m pretty sure I just ended up sounding pitiful. However, some of the kids smiled and greeted me back. Asking where I moved from, telling me their names; all that kind of stuff. Then the annoying girl spoke up again.

“Why are you wearing boy’s clothes? Aren’t you a girl?” Everyone got silent and looked at me questioningly. I looked around and like before on the street, I noticed the majority of them were wearing dresses. Even the few wearing shorts were wearing pink and purple. Girly colors compared to my black and green shorts.

“Yes I’m a girl, But I like to wear these clothes, they’re easier to move around in.” I was blushing now. I could feel it. Some of the kids were looking around at each other, most of them looking confused.

“That’s stupid! You’re a girl and should dress like one. If you don’t you’re just going to look like an idiot the rest of your life!” The annoying girl and her friend started to laugh loudly. I looked around to the other kids for help, but they all looked away. I sunk down into my chair, tears pricking at my eyes. Just then the teacher walked in and everyone sat down at their desks. I introduced myself again, quieter than before, trying to ignoring the snickering coming from a few rows in front of me, and then class begun.

Needless to say the rest of the day was no better. I learned that the annoying girl was named Chloe, and her friend was Sabrina. I didn’t like them. Lunch with my brother was ok, but he kept asking about school. After the fifth time of me not answering him I think he got the idea that I didn’t want to talk about it. After school, I sat on a bench in the small play area next to the school. I had my roller skates on, but I didn’t really feel like skating today.

Just as I was beginning to think about skating home someone sat next to me. I looked over to see a boy from my class, I think his name was Kim? He was pretty short compared to everyone else in the class, but from what I saw in gym class he was fast. Oh, and loud. He was very loud.  

“Hey new kid! Sorry about what Chloe said in class. She’s always like that. I don’t think she really pays attention to what she says. You know, my mom always says ‘Think before you speak’ and I don’t think Chloe ever learned that rule…” He continued to ramble on for a while. I wasn’t really paying attention much. I heard him say something about his mom being late to pick him up, so I assumed he was only talking to me out of boredom. As he spoke I did however notice something kind of off…

“Hey,” he stopped talking when I spoke up, “you keep just calling me ‘new kid’, what? Do you not remember my name?” I felt my usual sass coming through. It was the first time all day. His face got slightly red and I knew I was right.

“Well....I know it starts with an A! Um…. Ariel?” Ariel. He thought my name was Ariel.

“You think I’m named after a Disney Princess?” This guy was an absolute idiot.

“Well, why not? You have red-ish hair like her, and you could be a princess too!” He gave this big grin like he was some kind of genius. My face grew red; from anger or embarrassment I don’t know. Though if you asked I’d probably tell you anger. So, since I was angry, I punched him in the arm. I could tell he was shocked by how much it hurt.

“I am NOT, a princess. And I don’t want to be either.” I got up and started skating home. I heard him laughing from behind me, and I’ll admit, I smiled a little bit when I heard him laugh.

For the next four years of my life, Kim would call me by either Ariel, or New Kid. Both of which were equally annoying.

That first day of school all those years ago are what started the many years of annoying nicknames. All of them, courtesy of the loud mouth idiot, Kim. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First it was Ariel, which was bad enough. Then...

Second was Minnie Mouse.

I don’t know how. I don’t know exactly when. But sometime during summer break when we were 12, Kim grew. A lot. Not as a person really he was still the same loud mouth idiot he was when I first met him, but he was tall now. I on the other hand was still relatively short for most people my age. Kim took notice of this.

We were still on summer break when I found out about Kim’s growth spurt. It was early morning in late July; it was warm, but not really hot out. Just the kind of weather I like. The sun had just started peeking out, and while there were still some people out and about, there were significantly less people than most hours of the day. This made skating around the streets and sidewalks much easier for me. I was going at an average pace, not really going super-fast but not at what I would consider a “casual” pace. I know that doesn’t make much sense, but the point is that I was going fast enough that when I turned a corner and ran into some stupid jogger we both fell over and I skidded a few feet away.

My butt hurt and my knee was a little scraped up. Other than that though I was physically unharmed, though I was pissed. I grumbled about stupid joggers and stupid meatheads not watching where they’re going. Then there was a hand in front of me and a freaking giant standing over me.

“Need a hand there, Ariel?” Wait, what? Ariel? But wait, it couldn’t be…he was never that gigantic.

“Wait…Kim?” I looked up at him in shock. Now that I had properly looked at the idiot I ran into I could see it truly was Kim. It was weird how much he had changed in just a couple of months. First of all was his height. He had grown like 20 feet. Ok maybe not, but he was still big. He was probably three heads taller than me. That pissed me off; he had been taller than me for some time but not by that much. Besides his height, his shoulders and chest were also much broader. He looked like he had been working out over the summer. Lifting weights or something.

What a loser.

His jaw had also started to become more square. He was starting to lose the baby fat around his face. Which was good, he looked better without a chubby face. Though he still had that stupid look on his face. But I’m pretty sure that’s just his face. He was grinning like an idiot down at me.

“Don’t call me Ariel, meathead.” I scowled as I took his hand and let him help me up. I dusted off my shorts and winced a little at the scrape on my knee. I jumped a little when Kim knelt down to look at my knee.

“Sorry about that Ariel, is your knee ok?” Kim was kneeling down at one knee, and that ended up really pissing me off. Why? Because he was only slightly shorter than me when he was kneeling down. He was freaking kneeling and he was still almost as tall as me. What a jerk.

“I’m fine it’s just a scratch. I’m not made of glass you know.” I lightly punched at his shoulder and he laughed as he stood up. I had to actually look up at him. Stupid tall people. I decided I didn’t like tall people. Especially tall jocks.

He was smiling that stupid grin of his, but then he started smirking. I hate that smirk. It always meant something stupid was about to come out of his mouth.

“You know what New Kid? You really haven’t grown much lately have you?” I gave him a look. I guess you would call it a “say-one-more-word-and-I’ll-run-over-your-toes” look. Then I turned away and started to slowly skating away. And of course he started following me. I was going slow enough that he could walk a little behind me.

“What? Ignoring me because you know I’m right?” He was leaning over so his face was next to mine. So naturally I pushed his face away as he laughed. I started skating faster now and he jogged easily next to me.

“You know, you look so small next to me, people might think you’re my little cousin. I think it’s pretty adorable.” I glared at him and skated closer, almost enough to run over his feet. He moved away and bumped into the wall of a nearby building. He also almost hit his head on a low hanging potted plant. That made me laugh as I continued on. Within a few seconds Kim was next to me again. Still smirking. Still with that stupid look on his face.

We travelled a little while longer in comfortable silence. The entire while I thought about how much we’ve both changed. I know I said he hadn’t grown much as a person, but since we met I guess he has grown. He used to be a hyper active chatter box that was constantly trying to impress everyone. Since then, he’s definitely calmed down. Though he’s still a bit of a chatter box. I swear sometimes he doesn’t know when to shut up. He doesn’t try to impress everyone now, though he still tries to impress some people that I personally don’t think he should associate with (one of which is a certain annoying blonde girl). I guess in reality he really has grown. Although, he definitely still has a long way to go. I mean, he still makes really bad jokes that make me want to smack him. I guess I’ve grown too. I’m definitely not that shy and embarrassed little girl that got teased on my first day of school. I’ve definitely made a good amount of friends, I’ve got the sass back in my nature, and I’m just more comfortable I guess. Of course, Chloe still makes me angry and I still haven’t been able to bring myself to stand up to her all that much. But I’m getting there. Definitely getting there. My friends definitely have been helping me throughout the past few years to break out of my shell and become more comfortable in my own skin. I guess Kim has helped with that too, after all, he was the first person to actually try and talk to me. Plus, he’s not that bad of a guy.

We decided to stop and rest for a bit on a bench in the park. It was a nice quiet spot underneath some trees that had a pretty view of the fountain. Kim was panting slightly from trying to keep up with me. It made me smirk; he was still not fast enough to keep up with me.

“You know; I don’t think I should call you Ariel anymore. I mean, it just doesn’t really suit you. You’re way too small to be Ariel…maybe I’ll call you Minnie!” He gave me a shitting eating grin and it took everything in me not to punch the smile off his face.

“Minnie?! Why would you even think of calling me _Minnie_?!” My face red with anger.

“Like Minnie Mouse! She’s not a Disney princess, but she’s still one of Disney’s leading ladies~. Plus, it fits someone so small and cute like you.” I stomped on his foot with my skate and he yelped in pain. He cradled his foot in his hands and looked over at me with a pout.

“The next to you call me Minnie I’ll throw my skates at your head.” He smiled and laughed. You know what I said about him not being that bad of a guy? Yeah, I take it back. He’s a jerk. My face flushed even more as I stood up. He stood up and ruffled my hair so I smacked at his hand with a scowl on my face.

“Alright, well I have to get going. I’ll see you around, Minnie Mouse~!” He quickly jogged away before I could inflict anymore bodily harm on him. I couldn’t help but laugh a little at the nickname. Though I’m still going to have to smack him for it.

For the next three years I was referred to as Minnie Mouse by Kim, and at some points a few other friends of ours would call me Minnie Mouse as well. For some reason, Kim always seemed to get cranky when our friends used the nickname he came up with. Whatever, I tossed it up to him being weird and hormonal like teenagers do. Plus, he’s weird in general. I mean, who else could come up with all these annoying nicknames?                                                

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr: down-into-underland.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ariel and Minnie Mouse. Could the names get anymore ridiculous? Well...

The next one, well, I guess it was kind of my own fault.

We were 14 when Kim started to become even more obsessed with his stupid competitions. Every week he had to make some kind of bet or compete with someone in their class. No one was completely sure where this huge change and thirst for competing had come from. I mean, Kim had always been a competitive and hyper person so for him to want to race people or dare his friends to do something stupid was normal. This though? This was getting out of control. Of course, I had a theory of my own as to why exactly Kim had become even more annoying than he already was.

I had noticed Kim started working out a couple of years ago, but the effects had only started showing recently. His muscles were starting to grow, and since he was natural bigger than most of the other boys at school, he was really starting to look…beefy? Is that how I should describe him? It kind of feels gross, but it’s the truth. Lots of girls from other classes talked about Kim like he was some hot stud. If only they knew how annoying he was.

Anyways, the point is that because of how much stronger and fit he had become, Kim’s ego had also inflated. He believed he was untouchable and could beat anyone no matter what the challenge. It was seriously getting on my nerves. I wanted to smack the stupid right out of him.

Right now he was trying to get poor Nathanael to see who could eat an ice cream sundae the fastest. Nathanael was trying to be polite and decline, but seeing as this was Kim we were talking about, he didn’t give in very easily. Eventually I got fed up with all of Kim’s blabbering and walked over to the two of them in the back of the room.

“Come on Nath! It’ll be fun! I’ll even give you a head start!”

“Um, no thanks Kim. I’m not really a big ice cream fan anyway…”

“So? You’re not tasting it you’re just eating it as fast as you can!”

“Leave him alone Kim, he already said he wasn’t interested in your stupid challenge.” I stood with my hands on my hips in between where Kim was standing and Nathanael was sitting.

“Aw come on Minnie, I’m just trying to have some fun here.”

“Don’t call me that, and it’s only fun for you, Kim. Not the poor victim of your latest competition.”

“You don’t know that, besides, if they’re that bad then why don’t you ever back down from one of my ‘stupid challenges’?” Kim poked at my nose and I smacked at his hand.

“I personally like the part when I beat you at your own game. Since I always do.” He frowned.

"Oh yeah? I bet you couldn’t beat me if we— “

“Oh my god stop with the stupid bets and challenges! Sheesh, ever since you became Mr. Hercules you’ve been so annoying!” I threw my hands up in defeat. Then I noticed Nathanael smiling and Max hiding a smile from behind Kim. Kim was smirking and I was confused; what was so funny?

“Hercules, huh? Is that your new nickname for me, Minnie Mouse? I guess after all these years my amazing nicknaming skills have rubbed off on you.” Oh my god I didn’t even realize I had said that. I mean, I had thought about calling him Hercules in my head, but out loud? I’m never going to hear the end of this. I mean, it did make sense. The muscles, the challenges, and the ego. Right?

“My nickname actually makes sense for you, unlike all of your nicknames!” My face was blushing slightly as I turned away and walked out of the classroom. Planning on getting my skates and going for an after school skate around the park to clear my head.

I got my skates from my locker and as I closed it shut I look to my side to see Kim leaning against the locker next to mine smirking. I sigh and looked at him; waiting for him to say something else to piss me off.

“So, you said that Hercules made sense for me. Does that mean you think like a Greek God?” He did some stupid pose to show off his muscles and I rolled my eyes.

"I meant the muscles, not the looks you meathead.” I smiled leaning against my locker.

“So then you like my muscles?” He smirked and I laughed pushing at his chest.

“I never said that either, Hercules~” My voice was teasing and he leaned in closer after that statement. His eyes screamed mischief and I raised an eyebrow at that.

“You know, if I’m the hero Hercules, then I need a damsel to save. I think her name is Meg in the movie, right? So what do you say, think you can handle being the Meg to my Hercules?” I was a little shocked at his words. They definitely weren’t what I was expecting. Then I realized something he had said, and it made me mad.

“Damsel to save?! Like I would ever need someone to save me! I can handle myself just fine.” I stomped off angrily.

“Aw come on, I think Meg is a cute nickname!”

“It’s stupid and doesn’t make any sense!” I yelled back as he followed me out to the front of the school. As I jumped down the stairs, my foot landed in a puddle, and of course I started to fall. I felt arms wrap around my waist a hoist me up before I could land on my face.

“See! You did need a hero to save you~” Kim was grinning like an idiot as he put me down safely on the ground. I punched him in the arm, and thankfully he still winced like he did when we were younger.

“Jerk. I would’ve been perfectly fine without your help. A few scraps are nothing.” I fixed my shirt that had gotten messed up when he grabbed me and looked back at Kim. He looked a little disappointed. I guess he wanted to play at being a hero for once. That makes sense; someone like him probably would love being a hero.

“But I’m glad I didn’t have to worry about getting hurt. I guess having a hero as a friend isn’t too bad. So thanks, Hercules.” Kim flashed a big smile and I returned it before waving and running off. I was blushing slightly and laughing to myself as I ran home.

For the next couple of years, I kept calling Kim Hercules whenever he would get on my nerves or wanted to tease him. Kim had continued to call me Minnie like a jerk, but he added Ariel back and also “Minnie Meg” to his repertoire of nicknames. I guess he’s getting more creative with his nicknames, though they’re still ridiculous.

If I was being completely honest, it made me oddly happy when Kim called me Minnie Meg. Am I weird for liking it? Who knows, but I guess I am happy to be friends with this idiot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr: down-into-underland.tumblr.com


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From Ariel to Minnie to Meg, and now...

The next one, was Mulan.

            I really think he was stretching it with this one, but at the time it actually managed to make me laugh.

            We were 16 at the time, just starting out at a new school. Kim and I ended up at the same school along with Max and Juleka. For the beginning of the year the four of us hung around each other for the most part. It was easier that way since we were familiar with each other. I guess we were all just a little anxious to make new friends while starting at a brand new school. However, we eventually started to drift away from each other.

            Juleka was the first to go, but that was expected. While she was definitely our friend, she didn’t seem to connect with the rest of us. She still hung out with Rose outside of school too. Eventually she found some girls with that same goth style of hers and she was gone. She spent pretty much all her time with them. She had asked me if I wanted to hang out with them too, but they weren’t really my kind of people. I never really understood what they were talking about. Plus, they had weird taste in music. They were all nice girls, but not the kind of girls I could spend long periods of time with.

            Kim was second. Although, I guess you could say him and Max split off at the same time. Kim joined the school’s soccer team and of course was better than half of the older kids. He was immediately accepted by all the boys on his team and started spending the majority of his time with them. Not to mention he had become _extremely_ popular with the girls on the girls’ soccer. Though he also still hung out with Max. Max had started out helping the soccer team just because of his friendship with Kim. He actually ended up becoming friends with some of the girls from the girls’ soccer team. Needless to say I was shocked when Max of all people was the first one of us to get a girlfriend. Kim and Max still were close friends but their time was usually divided by Kim’s soccer team and Max’s girlfriend.

            Then there was me. Of course, with the way my life has gone over the past few years I should’ve expected it. Over the past few years I had finally found my group of friends, and was finally starting to feel confident in myself. That all went away with this new school. Sure, I still saw Juleka, Max, and Kim, but they all had their own groups of friends, while I still couldn’t find mine. There were people who like skating like I did, but they were all either annoying girls who were too scared to go fast, or boys who thought they were the greatest skater in the world. Of course I smoked all of those boys within the first two months of school when they challenged me to a race. Other than skating, there was nothing else I could really think of that would let me connect with people. So here I sat, alone, eating lunch under a tree outside of our school. At least it was peaceful, I tried to tell myself every day at lunch.

            I heard a loud group laughing from a few yards away and looked over. I rolled my eyes. You know the girls’ soccer team I mentioned early? Did I mention that the majority of them were very, _very_ annoying? Thankfully Max’s girlfriend and her friends were nice enough, but the group of girls walking towards me right now were almost as annoying as Chloe. Almost.

            This annoying group of soccer girls consisted of three girls. The tall one that seemed to have a different boyfriend every week was Jillian, she seemed to be the ring leader of the group. Not that any of them actually seemed to be that smart. The second one with bright, obnoxiously pink hair was Yvette. She was an idiot. Nothing else to say about her other than that. Finally, was Violette, she had red hair like me, though it was darker than mine. She was constantly hanging and flirting around with Kim. Although he seemed oblivious to it all. She wasn’t annoying other than the fact that she was really touchy feely in public with my friend.

            These three girls had taken to making my life as difficult as possible. They didn’t necessarily bully me per say, but they sure tried to annoy and mess with me as much as possible. They’d try to trip me in the hall, throw erasers and things like that at me during class, put annoying little notes in my locker, and all other kinds of bothersome things like that. I’m not sure why they picked me out as their target for all of this, but it was really starting to get on my nerves. And of course, with the way my luck has been going, they stopped right in front of me today.

            “Hey dwarf, eating lunch all alone again like a loser?” It was always Jillian that started these fun little talks. I didn’t want to deal with them right now, so I simply glared back at them, and continued to silently eat my lunch.

            “Um, hello! We’re trying to talk to you here!”

            “Don’t bother, if she doesn’t want to know about her stupid little roller skates that’s her problem.” My head shot up in shock at Jillian’s words. That’s when I noticed Violette holding a plastic bag with something stuffed in it.

            “Look, know she’s listening. Yeah, sorry about them. We happened to find your skates behind the school when we went out for lunch. We figured we should bring them to you.” She was smiling as she handed the bag to me. I slowly opened the bag and starred down in horror. There were my prized skates, broken to pieces and soaked in mud. I fought to hold back tears as my blood began to boil. “Happened to find them” my ass, these were locked in my locker. The teasing was one thing, but this, this was another.

            “You liars! You did this! I’m not an idiot!” I yelled as stood up angrily letting the broken skates clatter all over the side walk.

            “What?? No way, we definitely just found them. Why would we break your stupid skates?” Yvette asked twirling her hair, probably trying to look innocent. But like hell I was buying it.

            “There’s no way you just found them! Why…why do you want to make me so miserable?!” I felt tears slowly starting to run down my cheeks. They laughed at me.

            “Why? There’s no real reason. I mean, you think your so cool, always trying to hang out with Kim and the other boys, but you really don’t belong here, with them, or anywhere else really.” Jillian was smirking and trying not to laugh she spoke. Why were they bringing Kim into this? What does he have anything to do with this? Am I being punished for having even one friend here?

            I balled my hands into fists as they kept laughing. I was done with this. There was no way I was going to let this go any further. These girls were horrible and needed to be taught a lesson. And my fists were more than happy to teach them a few lessons. Especially if they involved these stupid girls losing a few teeth.

            I walked over closer to them, anger and sadness controlling my every move. I raised my fist and then, someone grabbed my arm. The laughter stopped and I spun around, ready to scream at whoever stopped me, and standing there holding my arm back was Kim.

            “Oh thank you Kim! If you hadn’t stopped her Alix would’ve gone completely psycho on us!” Violette cooed as she grabbed onto Kim’s other arm. He shook her off of him and pushed her gently away.

            “Yeah, sure. And I’m sure she’s crying and you were all laughing because of something Alix did, and not you three.” The girls were shocked, and also seemed a little offended.

            “What?! We did nothing!” Jillian said lying through her teeth.

            “So then the broken skates on the ground and the fact that Max saw you breaking into Alix’s locker this morning mean you did nothing.” They were shocked, clearly. And honestly, so was I. I thought Kim was friends with these girls, why was he going against them? They started trying to defend themselves again and my anger grew again. I felt Kim’s grip on my arm tighten again and I looked back at him.

            “Let it go, Alix. They’re not worth it.” I shook Kim’s hand of my arm and glared at the girls one last time. Then, I grabbed my bag and started running. Tears blurring my vision and lunch forgotten on the bench. I kept running till I was in front of our old school. I slumped down onto the empty steps and put my head in my hands. I let myself cry, not caring that I was ditching school. Why couldn’t things just go back to the way things were last year?

            I raised my head when I heard someone sit next to me. I’m not sure if I was surprised or not, but it was Kim. I hung my head down and we sat in silent.

            “You know, I kind of wished I let you beat those girls up. They deserve it, no doubt, and I’m sure you could beat pretty much anybody up. Even if you are Minnie Mouse.” He was smiling at me but I wasn’t in the smiling mood.

            “Of course I could beat anybody up, and yeah, they deserve it.” I hugged my knees closer to my chest. Kim scooted closer to me and the smile faded form his face and was replaced by concern and something else I couldn’t figure out.

            “Why didn’t you tell me they were messing with you, Alix?” The use of my real name surprised me. “Or tell someone? It’s not ok to let them get away with that. I could’ve helped you.”

            “It was never that big of a deal, nothing like what happened today. Besides, I don’t exactly have any friends, so who was I going to tell?”

            “If you don’t have any friends what does that make me?” He smiled a goofy grin. I tried to smile back but I just couldn’t seem to do it. He sighed and began speaking again.

            “You know what I think will make this at least a little better? A new nickname,” I rolled my eyes, “Minnie Mouse is getting pretty old anyways…how about Mulan?” I looked up at him in shock. Mulan? Really? How did that make any sense?

            “Mulan? What is going on in that head of yours?”

            “Well, Mulan is pretty tough like you, gets along with guys better than girls, like you. Not to mention you both could kick anyone’s butt at any time of day!” He was smiling like he was some clever genius. Normally I would’ve smacked him but today, I laughed. And I laughed hard. So hard that my stomach hurt. Kim was laughing besides me. I’m not sure how long we sat there laughing and then joking about many different things, but eventually I got tired and decided to head home. Kim walked me home, which I guess was sweet of him. He promised that he would take care of those girls for me and the next day he did. I also started hanging out with him, Max, and Max’s girlfriend during lunch and after school. All in all, things started to look up. Of course I was still trying to save up money for new skates.

            That is, until a nicely wrapped package arrived at my doorstep about a two weeks later. I opened it up to fine a shiny brand new pair of skates. High quality ones too, super expensive. I was so happy. Then I saw the letter attached to the side of the box. The whole letter was rather cheesy, but that doesn’t matter. What mattered was the signature at the bottom. It read: Love, Kim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me at down-into-underland.tumblr.com


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After so many nicknames, how could Kim have any more? But he did...

The final one was Tinkerbell.

That one really should've pissed me off more than it did. But over the years there were a lot of things that seemed to have changed. One of those was how angry I got at Kim’s silly little nicknames.

We’re 19 now. Kim and I go to separate Universities, though we’re both still in Paris. Our schools are also fairly close to each other. Now, I'm not sure how this happened, but somehow Kim has become my roommate.

Like I said, I'm not sure how this happened. Though it seemed to be a mix of a few separate conditions. It was the summer before we entered into University, and I knew I wanted to move into my own place when I started. My parents had agreed to help me pay for the apartment, though I still had gotten a job to help pay my part. It was still expensive though to live in Paris close enough to my university. So I had started looking for a roommate. This was the first part of this whole mess.

The second part of this equation was the odd relationship that Kim and I had formed in the past few years. The two of us had become close friends. Actually, we were closer than close friends. Does that make sense? Either way, it was a weird relationship, but it worked for us.

Kim and I were with each other a lot after school and on weekends. We worked out together, studied together, went shopping together if we ever needed anything, and many other things. We were good at reading each other. While Kim still couldn't keep his mouth shut for that long, there were still many times we didn't need to talk to understand each other. It was peaceful and we were both happy with this. We spent so much time at each other’s houses that we might as well be part of each other’s families. Of course, all of this didn't come without some problems. The biggest problem being that everyone thought we were dating.

I get it though. We do look and act a lot like a couple. We just never really thought of it like that I guess. Or maybe we did? Either way, as of now technically we are not dating. Not that I'm opposed to it. I wouldn't tell Kim that though. There was sort of an unspoken agreement between the two of us that we would never bring up dating. Especially when others brought it up first. When that happened, we would just laugh and roll our eyes. Ignoring any attempts, they made at convincing us that we should be dating. It was easy that way, and we were fine with that.

Anyway, back to what I was saying. One day I was sitting on my floor, my back against the side of my bed, scrolling through a list of potential roommates for apartment. Kim was playing some game on his phone while lying on the bed above me. My face must've shown how frustrated I was because Kim poked at my head with his knee.

“Hey, what's with the sour face, Minnie Meg?”

“I'm still trying to find a place to live and a roommate to help pay rent. Everyone in the area looking for a roommate either seems really annoying or doesn't want to pay enough for it to be fair. This is seriously getting on my nerves lately.” I closed my laptop and pushed it to the side with a pout. I heard Kim laugh from behind me and reached back to smack his leg. I heard him sit up on the bed, and then he moved to sit next to me on the floor. He looked concerned, and like he was thinking really hard about something. That was never a good thing.

“Hey…why don't I be your roommate? I mean, I have enough money. Plus, I don't think I annoy you that much.” He looked scared. Like someone was going to punch him if he didn't give the right answer. What a dork. I thought about it though; it did make a lot of sense. And we already spent so much time together, what would the difference be?

“Yeah, ok. That actually sounds like a good idea. Look at you! Actually using your brain for once!” I pat his head like he was a child with a Cheshire Cat grin on my face. He smacked my hand and then decided to use my head as an armrest.

“Alright then, roommate, let's get looking for an apartment.”

That was how it happened. It really wasn't that complicated, in reality. But that's what happened. We ended up living together for quite some time, and it wasn't bad at all. Of course Kim was a little annoying at times, as I could be at times I'm sure. But all in all it was a good thing that we had going. We went food shopping together a lot, we knew each other’s schedules enough to help the other out, we did chores together, and I sometimes would steal his clothes if I didn't feel like doing laundry.

Somehow, over time, we really did become like a married couple. And we both knew there was something else there between us. We definitely were more than just friends now, but what we were “officially”, I wasn't sure.

One day I got my answer though.

It was late at night and I was lying on the couch watching TV in my pajamas. Well the pants were mine, I'm pretty sure the t-shirt I was wearing was Kim’s since it was so big on me.

Kim had mentioned he’d be home late because of some party he was going to. Of course he had invited me, but why would I want to go to a party with Kim’s loud friends? They were all obnoxious too, but at least his friends weren't jerks. Though they were definitely stupid sometimes. I laughed to myself, thinking back on some of the things Kim and his friends have done when I heard the door being unlocked. I sat up and watched as Kim walked in; looking worn out and slightly upset. He flopped on the couch next to me and threw his keys on the table in front of us.

“You better not have driven home drunk or I swear I'll kill you.”

“I didn't drink anything there, don't worry.” He ruffled my hair and laughed. I rolled my eyes.

“So how was your party?”

“It was fun, though I got plenty embarrassed towards the end.” That was new. Kim didn't usually get embarrassed. I guess that explains why he was home earlier than I thought.

“Embarrassed? You? What happened?” I asked scooting a little closer to him on the couch.

“This girl I've been getting close to recently decided to drunkenly point out how terrible I am. She said I was ‘undatable’ and ‘too much of an idiot to understand feelings’. Of course she threw out a lot of other stupid insults, but it was just embarrassing getting yelled at like that.” Kim explained with a dejected look on his face. While I felt sorry for him, I couldn't help but feel upset and angry. I knew we weren't technically dating or anything, but I thought we were something. And here he was, flirting with some girl who didn’t even appreciate him. What about me? I haven't put up with all of his stupid antics all this time for nothing. I crossed my arms over my chest and scowled. Moving further away from Kim. 

“I didn't know you were looking for a girlfriend.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I'm just saying I wasn't aware you were trying to get with some random girl.” I get up and walk into the kitchen. Filling up a glass with water from the sink. Trying to calm myself down. I hear him call from the couch.

“Wait, why are you mad?” I ignored him and continued drinking my water. I know I’m probably being silly but oh well.  

“Are you jealous?” He’s standing a few feet away from me now.

“No. I am not jealous.” I set my glass down with a little more force than necessary. Then, there are arms wrapped around my waist, and Kim’s chin was resting on my head.

“Aw, there's no reason to be jealous, Tinkerbell.” He squeezed around my waist and my face grew warm.

“What do you mean there's no need to be jealous? And Tinkerbell?” I turned around in his arms to face him; still angry but my face also hot with embarrassment.

“I just meant I was friends with the girl. Honest. She thought it was more than that, not me. Why would I want someone like her when I already have all I need right here?” He was smiling down at me like he was some smooth Casanova. What an idiot.

“...and Tinkerbell? Why'd you call me that?” He laughed and pulled me close. My arms still crossed across my chest, and my eyes still glaring up at him.

“Because you got all jealous and angry like Tinkerbell. Plus, you're small and cute like her too!”

“Are you calling me short, Hercules?” I poked at his chest and Kim just laughed and squeezed me tight. I shook my head and laughed with him; burying my face in his chest. He tilted my head up and smiled down at me. His eyes were playful and warm. They made what little anger was left inside me fade away. Replacing it with a comfortable fuzzy feeling in my chest.

“May I kiss you, Tinkerbell?”

“I’ll punch you if you don't kiss me right now, you meathead.” And with that he pressed our lips together in a soft kiss. I let my hands rest on his shoulders as he grabbed my hips. He lifted me up to sit on the counter and kissed me deeper. That was the day that I figured out what Kim was to me.

Kim was an idiot and a dork. He was too loud and overly competitive. He came up with the most ridiculous nicknames imaginable, and loved to tease me. He cared about me and protected me, even if I didn’t need any protection to begin with. He was also the meathead I had managed to fall in love with, and I’m perfectly ok with that.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue will be posted later this week. Follow me on tumblr: down-into-underland.tumblr.com


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After all the years and all the nicknames it's time for a surprise.

It’s been four years.

I know it seems like a long time, but honestly time really does fly. It feels like just yesterday I was a shy little girl in a new school. Now, Kim and I getting ready to graduate college and it’s hard for me to even comprehend that soon I’ll be out of school. We’ll be out of school, getting real jobs, hopefully moving into a newer apartment, and doing so many other things that seem so new and different. It’s just crazy.

Kim and I moved out of our first apartment after about a year of dating. We didn’t see any point in paying for a two room apartment once we started sharing a room. We’ve been in the same apartment since then, and while it worked for us, it was an older building and I’ve been looking at moving for a while now. Although, Kim has gotten attached to our apartment and keeps pouting whenever I bring up moving. I’ll bring him around though, don’t worry.

I’m thinking about all of these things as I put some groceries away. I had just finished the last of my final exams and I was extremely nervous. Food shopping was always oddly relaxing to me, so I went and bought just a few extra things we could use. I do this after almost every big test I’ve ever taken in college. I guess Kim had noticed this odd quirk of mine as well because as I closed the door to our pantry, I spotted a note card taped to the door. I pulled the card off the door to read it.

_Hey babe~ I know you’ve been stressed with your finals, so I planned a fun little game! Think of it as an early graduation present! I planted a bunch of amazing presents around Paris, so go and find them, Tinkerbell!_

I rolled my eyes at the cheesiness of the whole thing. Kim was always thinking of sappy ways to “express his undying love”, as he put it. I really should’ve expected that goofball to do something like this today. I turned the card around to find a childish little drawing of what I assumed to be Kim and I sitting on a bench with a few words underneath it.

_Remember the first (of many) times you punched me in the arm?_

A small smile found its way to my face and shook my head. I folded the note card in half put it away in my pocket. I grabbed my keys from the counter and my skates from the hall closet, and then I left for my first destination. Our elementary school.

I skated through the Paris streets until I came upon the elementary school where Kim and I first met. School was over so the surrounding area was fairly empty. I spotted the bench that Kim had attempted to draw on his little card and skated over towards it. I looked around the bench and found another card taped to the back along with a small gift bag. I looked into the small bag and pulled out a small little pin of Ariel. I shook my head before pinning it onto my shirt. I figured I might as well wear it for today; Kim would whine if I didn’t. I took a look at what was written on the card along with another silly picture.

_I knew you could do it Ariel! You were always the smart one. You’re still my red headed princess after all these years! Ready for the next clue? Do you remember when I literally ran into you when we were 12 and then you got mad at me for calling you short? Well, think back to that one street corner!_

On the back of the card was a doodle of what looked like the two of us falling over. I hoped that was what it was because in all honesty, the picture was a little ridiculous. I had to think a little bit back to the old route I used to take when I would skate in the morning. I remembered the corner where Kim and I had bumped into each other all those years ago, with a little difficulty. How did he manage to remember that place? Maybe Kim paid more attention to those kind of things than I did. I started off to find my next clue.

At that street corner was a lamp post with another card and another gift bag taped to it. I was a little pissed because Kim had tapped it just out of my reach, so I had to jump a little bit to grab it. I pulled a red ribbon with the words Minnie Mouse out of the gift bag and laughed a little to myself. I tied the ribbon around my one pigtail before reading the card.

_Good job, Minnie~ I know you’ll be mad at me for putting this clue up so high, but I thought it would be a fun way to remember all the times you smacked me for calling you short! Anyway, here’s your next clue: I know I’ll always be your hero ready to save you, but do you remember the first time Hercules came to your rescue?_

That jerk; bringing back the first time I called him Hercules. That day was embarrassing for me, but I did enjoy calling Kim a nickname for once. On the back of the card was a drawing of Kim flexing his arms.

“What a complete dork.” I said to myself before heading off to our old school.

When I arrived the old school, where so many odd adventures happened, a bright note card on the front door caught my eye. Of course, a gift bag was hanging nearby as well. I found myself getting more excited to find out what silly little gift Kim had gotten me next. I pulled a small box out of the gift bag and opened it to find a necklace. It was a gold chain with two charms on it. The charms were of Hercules and Meg from the Disney movie. It made me smile and I clasped it around my neck. Kim had really put a lot of thought into these gifts; it was really sweet. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been this happy. I felt like a little kid as I read the next clue to the next gift.

_Keep it up, Minnie Meg~ only one more clue after this one! Have you been enjoying your gifts? I hope so! I spent a lot of time looking for them, so you should definitely reward me later for going through so much trouble-_

Jerk.

_-Just kidding! These are all for you because I love you. So here’s your fourth clue: Do you remember those horrible girls who broke your skates once? I hate them still to this day for hurting you, but I’m glad you were able to show me who they really were. Thanks for that, darling._

On the back was a doodle of what looked like me punching those three annoying girls from high school. It was definitely a funny drawing. I laughed about it the entire time as I skated to our high school. I remembered the skates Kim had bought me after that incident; the note that came with it was the first time Kim had written “love” in anything to me. As I came up to our high school I noticed a bright red bag hanging on a branch of a tree. It was a tree Kim and I used to eat lunch under when we still went to school here.

I removed the bag from the branch and from it I pulled out a charm bracelet. On the bracelet were multiple charms of different pictures of Mulan. There was one charm that just had the words “kick ass babe” on it. I slipped the bracelet over my hand and onto my wrist before pulling the card out of the bag.

_This is it, Mulan. The last clue before your last big present. I’ll be waiting for you with your present at the last spot! Go on and head to the place where we first agreed to move in together._

The only things on the back of this card were a lot of little hearts. The place where we agreed to move in together? Did he mean my parent’s house? Wouldn’t that be weird though? I mean, they still lived there. Oh well, who knows what Kim was thinking when he put all of this together. I started off to my childhood home.

When I arrived at my parent’s house, I noticed that the front door was slightly open. I took off my skates and carried them in with me as I entered into my old home. I placed my skates down at the door and walked into the family room where Kim was standing; he was smiling like an embarrassed child with flushed cheeks.

“Hey there Tinkerbell, have you had a fun day?”

“Other than the stressful exam I had to take, yes I’ve had a fun day. I did enjoy your gifts, by the way. They were all very sweet.” I walked closer to Kim and stopped in front of him, watching him shift his weight from foot to foot nervously.

“So, what’s my final gift? If it’s a kiss or something equally as ridiculous, I may punch you. Not that I don’t enjoy being kissed by you, but still.” I warned poking playfully at his chest.

“Nope, not a kiss. Unless of course you want one afterwards. But anyway, here it is.” Kim shyly held out a small box. The box was decorated with art of Tinkerbell all over it. I smiled and then opened the box. My heart stopped and I lost my breath.

In the box was a diamond ring with a silver band. I couldn’t form any of the questions running through my head. I felt Kim’s larger hand gently take mine and looked up from the ring to see Kim getting down on one knee.

“I know this is all pretty cheesy, but I really wanted to do something special for you. We’ve been friends for so long and I’ve loved you for almost as long, even if I didn’t know it then. You make me so happy it’s ridiculous and I know you get annoyed with me sometimes, but I know you love me too. You are my best friend, and you are the most important thing in my life. So, will you continue to make me the happiest man alive, and marry me?” Kim’s hands were shaking quite a bit and his face was pale. He looked so nervous, like he was going to throw up.

What an idiot.

I threw my arms around his neck as tears started to spill from my eyes. I felt his arms wrap around my waist tightly as he buried his face in my neck.

“So is that a yes?” I looked at him like he was crazy. He gave a goofy grin that made me want to smack him, so I kissed that smile off of his face.

“Of course it’s a yes, you meathead! I can’t believe you want to all this trouble for this!” My face was red from embarrassment, so I hid my face in his neck. I felt him pull the ring from my hand and place it on my finger. I continued to cling to this idiot love of mine as my parents came out from where they were hiding to congratulate us.

Kim was definitely an idiot. He was cheesy and could be overbearing sometimes, but he was everything to me. I loved him as much as he loved me. I couldn’t imagine being with anybody else right now. Sure we’ve had ups and downs, sure there were times when I wanted to (and actually did) punch him, but Kim had given me so much over the years. He has given me friendship, support, laughs, many headaches, many gifts, and more love than I could have ever asked for. Oh, and I how could I forget all the nicknames. Kim has given me many nicknames over the years.

And I’m thankful for every one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has taken this journey with me. This was a joy to write and all the support was really wonderful. Feel free to come talk to me on tumblr about this ship and anything else Miraculous Ladybug!


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